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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. SEARS & O. G. BURNHAM.

APPARATUS FOR DELINTING COTTON SEEDS OR THE HULLS,.

No. 440,282. Patented Nov. 11, 1890.

Q I H W 7 If Q Q1" @AYMU (No Model.) 4 SheetsSheet 2. J. SEARS & 0. G. BURNHAM. APPARATUS FOR DELINTING COTTON SEEDS OR THE HULLS. N 440,282.

Patented'Nov. 11, 1890.

(No Model.) 4.Sheets-Sheet 3 J. SEARS & 0. G. BURNHAM.

APPARATUS FOR DELINTING GOTTON SEEDS OR THE HULLS. No. 440,282. Patented N0v. 11 1890.

ZWWWW/JW A (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 J. SEARS 8c 0. G. BURNHAM. I APPARATUS FOR DELINTING COTTON SEEDS OR THE HULLS. N0.-440,282. Patented Nov. 11, 1890.

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I=====I ZV ZEV/ UNITE STATES ATENT .FFICE.

JOSEPH SEARS AND OLIVER G. BURNHAM, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE AMERICAN STOCK FOOD AND FIBRE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR DELINTING COTTON-SEEDS OR THE HULLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 440,282, dated November 11, 1890.

Application filed May 14, 1888. Serial No, 273,774. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that We, JOSEPH SEARS and OLIVER G. BURNHAM, both of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Delinting Cotton-Seeds or the I-Iulls; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to machinery for the removal of lint from cotton-seeds and cottonseed hulls.

The machine containing our improvements operates in execution of the method set forth in Letters Patent of the United States, No. 380,087, granted March 27 1888, to the present inventors and IVillia-m H. Burnet, or, in other words, detaches the lint from the seed or hulls by disintegrating the latter, and separates the lint from the disintegrated seed or hull substance by means of an air-current.

The improvements herein described concern the construction of the disintegrator, and also the construction and arrangement of parts in the separating devices, the present invention being subordinate to that set forth in application Serial No. 2&5,3l9, filed by us jointly with said \Villiam H. lfiurnet, dated July 26, 1887, so far as the two applications relate to the same subject-matter.

' The nature of the invention will be more fully understood by reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 and l together constitute a full side view of the apparatus as a whole. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section in the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, parts being in elevation. Fig. Sis a broken end view from the position of the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a vertical section in the line a 4 of Fig. l,looking in the direction of the arrow applied to said line, parts being in elevation. Fig. 5 is a central vertical section of the disintegrator enlarged to greater dimensions than indicated in side view in Fig. 1, parts being in elevation. Fig. 6 is a central vertical section of the disintegrator transverse to the axis thereof and in line 6 6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a view ofthe inner face of one of the solid or imperforate sections of the disintegrator-cylinder. Fig. 8 is an enlarged central vertical sectional View of the enlarged portion of the beater-shaft, taken in line 8 8 of Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is an enlarged sectional end view of the same, showing the annular flanges thereon. Fig. 10 is an enlarged View of one of the arms which support the heaters, showing one of the latter in cross-section. 11 is a transverse vertical section through the disintegrator and rear chamber, adjacent gearing being shown in elevation.

The machine as illustrated is a unitary structure or is self-contained, being adapted to be handled as an entirety and set up in position convenient to suitable driving-power. At the left of the machine, detachably mounted on a suitable partof the frame and at an elevation, is the disintegrator A. First describing the improved construction of this disintegrator, it is shown as being provided with an open-bottomed rectangular housing in the metal end plates A, in which are formed 7 5 bearings a for the beater-shaft A These end plates are also provided with annular inside flanges a, concentric with the beater-shaft, which support a perforate cylinder A and the end plates A therefore form the heads 80. of said cylinder. The end plates A are further provided with openings at above the bearings a and within the cylinder, into which the cotton seed or hulls to be disin tegrated and stripped of their lint are fed from a superposed hopper B, Figs. 1 and 4:. The shaft A extends through both end plates A and is provided with a belt-pulley at each end. Centrally the shaft A is preferably enlarged, as shown, andis provided with annu- 9o lar flanges a at a distance from the en d plates A. To these flanges are bolted radial arms (0 upon the outer ends of which are secured wings or beaters a which latter are notched along their edges preferably by the attachment to said beaters a of radial projections a The Wings or beaters a run from end to end of the cylinder, and are so placed on the is revolved at a very high velocity, and to in-v sure the permanence of the connection of the arms a with the flanges a on the shaft said arms are made with lateral enlargements a at their inner ends, and the flanges are exteriorly recessed at 64 to admit these ends of the radial arms, as clearly indicated in Figs. 8, 9, and 10. The bolts which hold the arms within the recesses of the flanges are therefore subject to little or no shearing strain.

A more material improvement in the disintegrator relates to the composition of the perforate cylinder A As illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, said cylinder is composed of alternate perforate and imperforate sections. The latter consist of cast-metal plates a running lengthwise of the cylinder and resting at their extremities upon the flanges a, which project inwardly from the cast-iron end plates A.

These plates a say two inches or two and one-half inches in widthare longitudinally grooved on their inner faces, as seen clearly in the sectional Fig. 6, so as to presentlength- Wise ribs or teeth a". The edges of the plates a are made wider at their outer than at their inner faces by longitudinal flanges a The perforate sections a, of the cylinder A may be and preferably are made of strips of heavy reticulated wire fabric having their edges bent outwardly to bear against the flanges a on the solid bars-or sections a and have perforations of less size than the seeds or hulls to be operated upon. The composite perforate cylinder thus formed is clamped against the flanges 01. by encircling bands a as plainly indicated in Figs. 5 and 6, or they may be otherwise held in place.

In the operation of the disintegrator provided with the composite cylinder A described the cotton seeds or hulls fed from the hopper through the tubes a into the interior of the disintegrator are rapidly broken up into fine particles, the lint being detached in the operation of disintegration and rapidly forced outward by the air-current caused by the heaters through the meshes of the perforated sections a followed or accompanied by the comminuted particles of bran substance as fast as the latter is sufficiently reduced to escape through these meshes. The comminuted substance of the seeds or hulls and the detached lint together pass through the discharge-opening A in the bottom of the houslng.

Next will be described the separating apparatus, by which the several products of the disintegrator are separately collected. The wooden frame-work of the apparatus supports a housing 0 of irregular dimensions. It may be as a whole, say, sixteen feet long, and has its rear wall 0 in one plane through; out its length and height. From near its head and Within the boundaries marked by the letter a, placed at its angles in Fig. 1, it is about three feet in width, this full-width portion including a central part about eight feet long of the full height of the machine,which is about ten feet. The front of this portion is provided with hinged glass doors. Thehousing is divided longitudinally and vertically by a central partition 0 into two general compartments, each of which is subdivided horizontally into chambers. The uppermost of these chambers O and C communicate with each other over the top of the central vertical partition in the central eight foot section of the machine above referred to. An air flue or duct 0 leads from the front upper chamber 0 through the rear upper chamber 0 to the open air, and in this flue is placed a suction-fan or air-mover. (Seen in dotted lines at 0 Figs. 2 and-P.) The mouth of the air-flue is laterally expanded to nearly the full rectangular dimensions of the central front upper chamber C by a rearward offset 0 of the central partition 0 and said mouth is covered by a fine screen 0 of cloth or wire, sustained in its vertical plane by thin vertical bars 0 In front of this screen is-arranged a traveling wiper-bar 0 mounted on endless belts 0 which wiper-bar descends in. proximity to the screen, and is provided with a flexible rubber strip or with a brush, which bears gently on said screen. The rear chamber 0 within the housing 0 extends beneath the disintegrator and receives the detached lint and comminuted bran therefrom. The

. bottom of said chamber 0 is a concave perforated plate or wire-cloth screen forming a trough D, in which is mounted the rotating picker D, consisting of a shaft cl, provided with spirally-arranged radial blades 61'. Air is freely admitted beneath the screen-bottom D through openings (1 in the rear wall of the housing. Below the screen D is located alongitudinal trough E, containing a conveyer E, which discharges at the foot of the machine through a suitable passage e, Fig. 3. In the front compartment below the vertical screen 0 and over a partition f is located a longitudinal horizontal carrier F, here shown as of the endless-belt order, and arranged to carry toward the head of the machine. Below the partition f is arranged a concave wirecloth trough G similar to the trough or bottom D, in which rotates an agitating-conveyer G, having spirally-arranged arms g like those of the picker D, but of less length. The chamber containing the agitator and conveyer G (called the lint-cleaning chamber communicates with that containing the carrierF through a passage f at the head of the machine and discharges at a side opening g at the foot of the machine. Under the perforated trough G is a second an d closed trough H, in which rotates a conveyer H and which has its discharge at h, Fig. 3. As willbe seen by reference to Figs. 2 and 3, the troughs G and H are directly in front of the similar troughs D and E.

For the purpose of cutting off the chambers below the carrier F from action the suction-fan C and thus facilitating the discharge of the lint and fine bran and flour products from these chambers, the carrierbOX is provided with a cover f for a portion -of its length at the head of the carrier, with a bottom board'f below the carrier, and with two intermediate boards f and f placed, respectively, below the upper part and above the lower part of the belt, the space between the boardsf and f being closed by the cartransverse buckets or carrier-blades f close off the passage of air from the lower chambers to the chamber C and permit said lower chambers to discharge at their several openings without opposition from an incoming air-current, and also permit the flour and dust to be sifted out of the lint by the agitator G and screen G.

The details of construction may manifestly be varied without departure from our invention.

For the actuation of the various moving parts of the machine a main shaft I is arranged transversely at the head of the latter.

From two large pulleys I on this shaft belts I I are trained over the driving-pulleys on the ends of the shaft A of the disintegrator. From a second pulley I a belt 1 leads to the suction-fan, and from a third pulley I leads a belt I over intermediate deflecting pulleys '2; 'i to a pulley D on the head of the pickershaft cl. This picker-shaft, the shaft of the agitator G, and the shafts of the conveyers E and H all project beyond the housing at the foot of the machine, where they are provided with appropriate pulleys, over which a single belt J is trained, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. A second belt J may sometimes be placed over the pulleys on the ends of the picker-shaft d and the shaft of the agitator G, as shown in Fig. 3, and interposed between said pulleys and the belt J to insure a more positive frictional bearing of the latter. From the prolonged shaft g of the agitator and conveyer G, at the head of the machine, a belt leads over a pulley on the shaft 0 which drives, the wiper-belts c 0 and from this shaft a belt f drives the carrier F.

In the operation of the machine the disintegrator discharges into the chamber O By the combined action of the beater-wings of the disintegrator, acting as a fan, and of the suction-fan O a forcible air-current is produced upwardly through the chamber 0 over the top of the division wall C and through the vertical screen 0 into the eduction air-flue 0 This lifts a considerable portion of the lint directly from the disintegrator into the screenchamber 0 That portion which is carried thereon by L down by the bran orin bunched masses to the trough-bottom I) of the chamber 0 is loosened up or picked apart and thrown upwardly by the revolving picker D, and is also carried over by the air-current into the screenchamber 0 In this chamber a part falls directly upon the carrier F at the bottom of the chamber, but a greater portion is drawn by the air-current against the screen 0 from which it is removed by the Wiper and deposited upon the carrier. Nearly all of the bran particles which pass from the disintegrator into the screen-trough D are sifted through the latter and are carried out of the machine by the conveyer E; but some of the tinerparticles are lifted with the lint into the chamber C and settle upon the carrier F. These pass with the lint into the trough G, where by the action of the revolving agitator and conveyer G they are Whipped out of the lint and allowed to pass through the screen-trough into the subjacent conveyer-trough and are finally discharged at the opening h. The lint recovered is carried forward by the conveyer G and is discharged at 9 into any receptacle that may be placed there for its reception. The carrier F, depositing all of the lint at the head of the trough G, enables the beater or agitator G to act equally upon the entire product, and thus to clean the same by a beater G not longer than the picker D.

We claim as our invention- 1 1. The combination of a housing provided with a perforated trough or bottom, to the under or out side of which the outer air is admitted, a picker or agitator arranged to work in said trough or over said perforated bottom, an air-duct communicating with the interior of said housing, a suction-fan in said duct, a screen covering the passage from the interior to the duct, and a wiper working over the face of the screen within the inclosure.

2. The combination of a disintegrator, a chamber arranged to take the discharge of the disintegrator and provided with a perforated trough or bot-tom, to the under surface of which the outer air is freely admitted, a picker or agitator arranged in said trough, a second chamber arranged side by side with the first-mentioned chamber and communicating therewith over the top of a partition which separates said chambers, an air-duct leading from the second chamber, a screen covering the passage from said chamber to the duct, a fan arranged in said air-duct be yond the screen, and a wiper arranged to clean the screen.

3. The combination, witha disintegrator, of a housing having a central vertical partition extending to near the top thereof and affording two side-by-side chambers O 0 communicating with each other over the partition, a screen, and a picker arranged over the screen at the bottom of the chamber 0 a horizontal carrier at the bottom of the chamber 0 a screen forming part of the inclosure of the chamber 0 an air-flue provided with a fan arranged externally to said screen and communicating through the latter with the chamber 0, and a moving wiper arranged to clean the screen.

4. The combinatiomwith the suction airflue, a screen over its mouth, a wiper arranged to remove the lint from the screen, and a horizontal carrier below the wiper, of a chamber beneath the carrier communicating therewith at one end and provided with a dischargeopening at the opposite end, said chamber be ing provided with a screen-trough bottom, and a conveyer and agitator working in said trough.

5. In combination with the lint-collecting chamber subject to an airdraft, a second chamber communicating with the lint-collecting chamber and provided with lint-cleaning devices, said second chamber having an outlet for the discharge of lint but being cut off from the action of the air-draft to which the lint-cleaning chamber is subject, and means for transferring the lint from the said lint- %ol1ecting chamber to the lint-cleaning cham- 6. In combination with the lint-collecting chamber and a subjacent lint-cleaning chamber, an intermediate traveling carrier-belt provided with transverse buckets f the bottom board f cover f and intermediate boards 5 and f, for cutting off the lint-cleaning chamber from the action of the air-draft to which the lint-collecting chamber is subject.

'7. The combination, with a housing containing the vertically-separated chambers 0 O communicating with each other at the top, of a disintegrator arranged to discharge into the chamber 0 a screen-trough at the bottom of the chamber 0 exposed on its under side to the outer air, a revolving picker in said trough, a closed trough containing a conveyer beneath the screen trough, a

vertical screen forming part of the lateral wall of the chamber 0 an air-flue provided with a suction-fan communicating with the chamber C through the vertical screen, a Wiper having a downward movement in contact with the screen, a horizontal carrier below the wiper delivering atone end, a screentrough G below the horizontal carrier in position to receive the lint delivered by the latter, a spiral conveyer and agitator in the screen-trough G, taining a eonveyer arranged below the screentrough G.

8. In a disintegrator for eoinminuting cotton-seeds and cotton-seed hulls, and thereby detaching the lint therefrom, the combination, with a revolving shaft provided with arms having wings at their extremities, and with a surrounding case or housing having a discharge-opening, of a cylinder within the housing and inclosing the revolving blades,which cylinder is composed of alternate rough-surfaced solid sections and perforate sect-ions having perforations of less size than the seeds or hulls admitted, whereby the comminution of said seeds or hulls is necessary to their passage from the cylinder through said perforations.

9. The perforate cylinder-A of the disintegrator, composed of alternate solid and perforate sections, the solid sections being provided with marginal outer flanges, and the perforate sections having their edges bent outward to bear'on said flanges.

In testimony that We claim the foregoing as our invention we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH SEARS. OLIVER G. BURNHAM.

\Vitnesses:

M. E. DAYTON, TAYLOR E. BROWN.

and a closed trough I-I, con- 7 

